US Agency Reveals Kenya Took Secret Sh139 Billion COVID-19 Loan

The government of Kenya allegedly signed a secret COVID-19 loan of Sh139 billion (€1.06 billion) with Canadian and Belarusian companies in 2020.

This was revealed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which indicated that the funds were meant for the construction of mobile clinics and the upgrading of county hospitals in readiness for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports indicate that the National Treasury inked the loan deal with the two companies in June last year amid a spike in COVID-19 infections in the country.

Techno Investment Module (TIM), a Belarusian-based company funded a project named Kallo Integrated Delivery System (KIDS), whose details remain unknown to the Kenyan public. KIDS provides comprehensive medical care through mobile and fixed clinics supported by a global telehealth system, Canadian company Kallo Inc says on its website.

"On June 26th, 2020, the company finalized contracts with the Republic of Kenya and Techno Investment Module for a project contract and a finance project," SEC says in filings dated March 3rd, 2021.

"Under the terms of the agreement Kenya is seeking to borrow 1,068,932,543 euros from TIM and the funds are to be used primarily to build phase one of a planned National Healthcare Infrastructure in the Republic of Kenya to be undertaken by Kallo Inc." 

The loan is a 20-year facility charged at an interest rate of two percent plus LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), which is charged at negative 0.4 percent. 

TIM, which was to pay the loan directly to Kallo Inc once Kenya issued a guarantee, granted Kenya a three-year grace period after which it will start making quarterly repayments from 2023.